Memphis Redbirds are in the final home-stand of the regular season. Friday’s giveaway is a Carlos Martinez bobble head, SuperHero/Comic Night is on Saturday and Health & Fitness Night on Sunday. Maria & I will emcee Sunday together. Get more information at MemphisRedbirds.com.

On Sunday afternoon, the Memphis Redbirds celebrated their annual Bark in the Ballpark game where fans are encouraged to bring their canine friends with them for an afternoon of baseball at AutoZone Park.

With help from Twitter and Instagram, we’ve compiled a collection of the Top 20 Dogs from the Redbirds’ Bark in the Ballpark 2014:

The Memphis Redbirds’ annual tradition of lighting a giant tree at AutoZone Park’s Rockeyfeller Center (named after the team’s mascot) is now the official start of the holiday season in downtown Memphis. This year’s “Flip-the-Switch” tree-lighting party featured appearances by mascots Rockey, Grizz, McGruff the Crime Dog, and Mayor AC Wharton.

Sunday the Memphis Redbirds celebrated their annual Bark in the Ballpark game. On this special day each year, fans are encouraged to bring their canine friends with them for an afternoon of baseball at AutoZone Park.

Thanks to social media, we’ve compiled a collection of the Top 20 dogs from the Redbirds’ Bark in the Ballpark 2013:

Could the biggest baseball fan in the country live in basketball-obsessed Memphis, Tennessee? Maybe.

Germantown resident and baseball superfan Drew Fleming is one of 52 finalists in the 2013 MLB Fan Cave competition. The winner will have the opportunity to watch and tweet about all 2,430 MLB games in the New York-based MLB Fan Cave.

“I saw a few other video entries and thought ‘hey I do this for a living, I love baseball,’ and I tweet way too much,” said Fleming. “I figured the MLB Fan Cave was right up my ally.”

Baseball season is finally here, and you don’t want to miss Opening Night at the Redbirds. Here are 5 reasons that you should check out the Redbirds’ at Autozone Park this summer:

1. Shelby Miller

Starting the home opener this Friday, righty pitcher Shelby Miller is someone you don’t want to miss. Signed out of high school, Miller has long been the Cardinals’ prize prospect, entering this season at #10 on Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein’s (@kevin_goldstein) top 101 prospects.

According to his twitter feed on Wednesday, Shelby is excited to be here, and we should be excited to see him.

It’s 60 feet by 60 feet, the biggest in the minor leagues. This thing is gonna light up downtown Memphis when it’s on.

3. Matt Adams

Matt Adams will man 1b for the Redbirds this season, bringing his big bat with him. After destroying the Texas League last year (.300, 32 HR, 101 RBI), Adams is right back in form with a .419 avg and 3 HR already on the 2012 season. The guy is a threat to go yard every time he is at the plate, and shouldn’t be here more than a season or two. Don’t miss this guy.

4. BBQ Nachos

Memphis’ own Rendezvous BBQ Nachos. Enough said.

5. Fireworks

Saturday night marks the first fireworks night of the year for the Redbirds, and there’s nothing cooler than watching a ball game, eating a hot dog, spilling mustard on your shirt, drinking a beer, and watching fireworks at the end. Think ‘The Sandlot’ when the kids play ball under the fireworks, minus the tobacco and carnival rides.

Hit the comments section below with any reasons you love watching Redbirds games that I missed.

Drew Fleming is the last baseball columnist you have ever read. He covers the St. Louis Cardinals and Memphis Redbirds for Memphisport. Follow him on Twitter @thefilmjerk

The Cardinals finished the first week of the 2012 season 5-2. Let’s take a look at three aspects of why the team had such a good week.

Strike 1

Rafael Furcal. In my season preview, I said that Furcal is key to the team’s success this year. I also mentioned his rough spring, and followed up with the fact that sometimes spring training means nothing. With Furcal hitting .435 (.480 OBP), he has shut up his spring doubters (me). If Furcal gets on base, the big bats behind him tend to bring him in. And they have: The Cardinals led the majors in HR, RBI, and Runs scored for the week.

Strike 2

Cardinals starters have let their spring speak volumes: all they’ve done is continue with the success they had in the preseason. Cardinals pitching leads the league in Wins with 5 after week one, are 3rd in ERA and 3rd in strike outs. Championship teams have good pitching. So far, the Cardinals pitching has been superb, but is still waiting for a timetable on Chris Carpenter’s return.

Strike 3

With Pujols gone, many thought the Cardinals would have a lack of power in their lineup. Not so for this young season. With 12 home runs, the Cardinals lead the majors in HR, as well as runs scored and RBI. Beltran and Freese (hitting a torrid .444) both have 3 HR, Molina and Holliday 2, and 1 a piece for Jay and Robinson.

We can expect Berkman to chip in some homers pretty soon, too, but he has been slowed by a bothersome hand as well as a minor calf tear suffered after legging out a triple in Tuesday’s game. Berkman is expected to stay out of the lineup until next week, with rookie Matt Carpenter manning first in his stead.

You’re out!

Most importantly, the Cardinals have won all 3 series they’ve played in, including the 1 game trip to Miami for the Marlins opener. Like La Russa before him, rookie manager Mike Matheny says that he wants his team to focus on winning series. That’s what they’ve done so far.